City: Kuhn defaulted on garage

[thelakelander]

DOWNTOWN -- The Kuhn Cos. has defaulted on agreements it made with the city of Jacksonville and another developer to build a public parking garage, city officials said.

In a letter dated Jan. 24, the city notified the company and Project Riverwatch LLC, the entity created to develop the property, that they defaulted on a redevelopment agreement to build the garage on land adjoining the SunTrust Tower by failing to obtain a loan to finance the construction in the allotted time, said Jacksonville Economic Development Commission Executive Director Ron Barton.

The default notice on the 1.6-acre parcel comes after seven months of trying to work with the developer to resolve the issues, Barton said.

"We thought we were dealing with them in good faith," Barton said. "Then you fast-forward to the notices of foreclosures," he said, referring to the lis pendens filed against Kuhn Cos. by lender JDI Realty Inc., for the Laura Street Trio and the former Barnett Bank building, other properties Kuhn Cos. owns Downtown.

No one from the Orlando-based company told the city about the lis pendens or has contacted the city since December, Barton said. The last time the city heard any news about Kuhn Cos. projects was Dec. 7, when David Dix, formerly senior adviser for the company, met with Barton and other JEDC staff members. Dix told them a group of Minneapolis investors would take a more active role in the parking garage project.

Frank Vennes Jr., who leads the investment group, filed a countersuit Aug. 8 against Kuhn Cos. and developer Cameron Kuhn. That suit came just two days after Kuhn Cos. filed suit against Vennes.

http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2008/02/04/story1.html

[Jerry Moran]

The construction manager for the Lerner Building project paid a visit to the chocolate shop a few days ago and said his farewells.  Stated that the owners "have run out of money".  I left a message for Ron Barton, and emailed Paul Crawford at the JEDC asking that they have Public Works remove all the fencing that is blocking the road.  Also, I asked that the No Parking 7-9 & 4-6 Signs  be removed from the meters on Adams, as they have been with great success on Forsyth.

Someone did take the initiative last week to take down all the plywood on the sides of the Tunnel of Terror that surrounds the Barnett Building.  Awful things were going on behind the cover of the plywood.

[urbanlibertarian]

Does Kuhn still own those properties or is it now his creditors?

[Noone]

Another thread about the proposed Downtown parking garage next to Suntrust.